properly to put it in its proper context. That's true in any area of scriptural study--context determines meaning. That's true in

Transcription

1 GR 730 December 8, 1985 Matthew 25:1-13 Gil Rugh The Gospel of Matthew and chapter 25. In studying Matthew chapter 25 it's extremely important if we are to understand it properly to put it in its proper context. That's true in any area of scriptural study--context determines meaning. That's true in language period. The context in which something is said determines the meaning in which it is meant. Our words are that way. If I were to use an example of a word like run--that word has no particular definite meaning until I put it in a context. If I say run, some of you who have a young child who has a cold think of a runny nose and the nose is running all the time. If a lady snags her hose coming in, she thinks she has a 'run' in her hose. Some of you are avid joggers and you think Yes, I had a good 'run' today. The word has meaning in its context. That's the way Matthew 25 is. Its real meaning is understood only in the light of its context. The context is the second coming of Jesus Christ to earth to establish His kingdom. Naturally for the context of chapter 25 we look at chapter 24. Remember when the Scripture was written they didn't have chapter or verse divisions, and chapters 24 and 25 go together as a unit where Christ is answering the disciples' questions addressing their concern about events related to His Second Coming to earth and the establishing of His kingdom. And He has revealed in chapter 24 that His Second Coming will be preceded by a period, which other parts of Scripture indicate is 7 years in length, a period of turmoil and trouble and tribulation; the time of greatest persecution for the nation Israel that it has ever known. Verse 21 of chapter 24 says, "For then there will be a great tribulation, such as has not occurred since the beginning of the world until now, nor ever shall be." The Second Coming of Christ to earth will climax that time of great tribulation and suffering in verses of chapter 24. Now in light of the fact that Christ is coming again to establish a kingdom, to rule and reign, what does that mean for me personally? How is that truth to affect my life here today? Sometimes prophecy seems rather distant and unrelated to my present problems. I've got problems of 'today' that need to be addressed and dealt with. I don't need to study about the tomorrows or the future however close or distant it may be, I need help for today! But you know the single most important thing that I need to know and understand for determining my life today is the coming of Jesus Christ. That's to affect everything about my today. Everything about the way I live and order and arrange my life today. And that's what Jesus begins to address at the end of chapter 24 and through the end of 25. He says, "I am coming again." What does that mean for you today? It means you ought to order and arrange your lives in special, particular ways. That ought to have an impact on the way events affect you, on things you do and don't do, because "I am coming." And the key emphasis in His coming in this section will be on its unexpectedness. He is going to be coming when He might least be expected. The point being, be ready all the time because I am going to come when you don't think I'll be coming. And if you expect Him to be coming and you are alert in connection with that coming, you will be faithful to Him. Faithful to Him--that brings it down to the details of my life today. Am I living my life faithfully, submissive and obedient to Him? Have I prepared for His coming by trusting in Him as my Savior, recognizing my own personal guilt and sinfulness. That His death on

2 the cross was for me personally. He rose from the dead because He has secured forgiveness for me if I believe in Him. That's the point He is making in connection with His Second Coming. So when you talk about His Second Coming, you talk about being read, being alert, being faithful because you must understand within the framework of the Second Coming there is an emphasis on judgment. On judgment, that's the point of the Second Coming--to sift out the true from the false, believers from unbelievers. So judgment characterizes the Second Coming. He came the first time, at His first coming to secure salvation and redemption by His own death. He comes the second time to divide those who have believed in Him from those who have not believed in Him and to establish an eternal kingdom. We'll come into chapter 25 and there is a series of parables given in chapter 25. Three parables: the ten virgins, the talents, and the sheep and the goats. Parables that are often used and referred to today, but more often than not, with disregard to the context and so misunderstanding and misinterpretation characterize these parables. They have to do with the Second Coming of Christ to earth, and particularly the judgment that will occur when He does come to earth. Now within this framework, keep in mind Christ is coming two times in the future. You might say there is one Second Coming there are two phases. He'll come at the Rapture of the Church, and that coming is in the air. He never comes to earth then. He comes in the air and He calls all believers from the earth to meet Him in the air. That's followed by a period of 7 years of suffering and tribulation which is climaxed by a Second Coming to the earth to judge the earth and to establish His kingdom. It's that Second Coming to earth that is in view in Matthew 25, but there will be principles that apply to us who are looking for His coming in the air at the Rapture of the Church, as we'll see. The chapter begins, "Then the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins..." "Then," so it's still within the framework of when He is talking about in chapter 24. He talked in v. 51 of chapter 24 of cutting "him in pieces and assign him a place with the hypocrites; weeping shall be there and gnashing of teeth," a separating of the wicked from the righteous. "Then," and here's another analogy for you, "the kingdom of heaven will be comparable to And the kingdom, of heaven is the earthly kingdom of Christ. Here is truth related to the establishing of the kingdom of Christ on this earth. So the kingdom of heaven is the subject. "Comparable to ten virgins." And these virgins go out with lamps to meet a bridegroom. Now we need to establish something of the background of the oriental wedding in the time of Christ to appreciate this, and let me just give you the highlights of it. Otherwise you'll think of it in terms of our weddings today and there are major differences. For the Jews in biblical times, you started out with the engagement or betrothal period. And here a binding commitment to marry was made. At this time, then, the bridegroom for his bride would pay the purchase price. This engagement was a binding time. We see this with Joseph in the opening chapters of Matthew--remember when he was engaged to Mary, he found she was pregnant, and he was minded to 'put her away,' and the word there means to divorce her. For this kind of engagement could only be broken by divorce it is a binding relationship even though the couple did not yet live together or consummate the marriage. This is followed by a 1-year period of separation. The couple did not interact with one another. The bride prepared herself for the

3 coming wedding, got the things she would need for her wedding, etc. Similar to what we talk about a girl having a hope chest today where she puts things in it in anticipation of a wedding or marriage. So during this year the 'would-be bride' prepared herself for what she would need and need to be for her coming wedding and married life. The groom would return to his father's house and there he would prepare a place for his bride. He'd prepare the home, i.e., it was customary for the bride and bridegroom to live in the home of the groom's parents. So he would go and prepare that place, the rooms and all that they would live in. Maybe build an addition on, etc. Whatever would be necessary for them in their married life. So this separation is a time of preparation on the part of the bride and on the part of the bridegroom. Then the groom would come at the end of that year and get his bride and take her to the home that he had prepared for her. There the marriage would be consummated, physically consummated. Following that, there would be a wedding feast to which all the friends of the family would be invited. That's the pattern of the wedding. It fits with what Jesus Christ is doing with His Church and with Israel. He has entered in to a binding commitment with us who have believed in Him-- that's the betrothal. That's binding and cannot be broken. He paid the purchase price for us. We have been redeemed, not with corruptible things that we received from our parents and forefathers, not by things like silver and gold but with the precious blood of the Lamb of Christ, the One who is spotless, Peter tells us. He paid the price. The commitment has been made. But we are in a time of separation, and during this time of separation, we the Bride of Christ are preparing ourselves for the time when He will take us to be with Himself. It's a time of preparation for us as the Bride; He is also preparing for us a place in His Father's home. Did He not say in John 14, "In My Father's house are many dwelling places; if it were not so I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also." So following this time of separation, Christ will come for us His Bride, the Church, that's the Rapture, when He calls us to meet Him in the air. Then takes us to the place that has been prepared for us. There the marriage will be consummated--we are joined to Christ as His Bride. Following that there will be the wedding feast. That's the picture we come to in Matthew chapter 25, and we'll be looking at some other details as we proceed through this. But that is the time when the Bride will be unveiled before all creation; the wedding feast will occur and all the friends of the Bridegroom and the Bride will be invited to the wedding feast. That's the pattern that is being pictured here. Okay, let's look through the details of this parable. "The kingdom of heaven will be comparable to ten virgins, who took their lamps, and went out to meet the bridegroom." The ten virgins, in the context of Matthew 24 and 25, refer to the nation Israel. Within the focal point of chapter 24, all peoples are to be prepared for the coming of Christ, but the focal point of Christ's discussion has been on the preparation of the nation Israel. The ten virgins are dealing with the nation Israel as they prepare for the coming of Christ. Now you note the ten virgins are not the Bride. He didn't have ten brides; they are ten virgins awaiting the arrival of the Bridegroom--that time when after the consummation of the marriage the bridegroom comes with his bride and they will be invited in to the feast. And you'll see down in verse 10 that the issue is going in to the wedding feast and which of these 10 virgins go into the wedding feast and which of these 10 virgins do not go in to the wedding feast. So the ten virgins took their

4 lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom. The bridegroom obviously is Christ. "And five of them were foolish, and five were prudent." Now the five foolish virgins will represent those in Israel who are not prepared for the coming of Christ; the five wise virgins will refer to those who are prepared for the coming of Christ because the theme of this parable is "Be prepared." Remember, a parable carries one main thrust or one main idea. That idea in this parable, verse 13, is, "Be on the alert then," be prepared for the coming of Messiah. The foolish ones will not be prepared. The wise ones are prepared. Verse 3, "For when the foolish took their lamps, they took no oil with them, but the prudent took oil in flasks along with their lamps." Preparation. The little oil lamps they would take. You put oil in them, they'd have a wick, and you'd have to replenish the supply of oil as it went down. You have to trim back the wick so it'd keep burning. The foolish ones didn't prepare themselves, the wise ones did. We need to be careful. Every detail in a parable is not meant to have a meaning. If we're not careful, we begin to allegorize in our interpretation. Christ gives the meaning here. It's true that oil in Scripture can represent the Holy Spirit. I'm not convinced it does in this passage because these virgins do have some oil in their lamps, because in verse 8 their lamps are going out. It would indicate they had some oil but it wasn't enough. So the point is not being made here on the Holy Spirit although we can know it's true that believers have the Spirit. But the point here is preparation. They didn't do what was necessary to prepare for meeting the bridegroom. Five are foolish; five are wise. Christ in Matthew has already used this contrast between the wise and the foolish. Go back to Matthew 7; it helps us see more clearly what Christ is talking about. In Matthew chapter 7, verse 24, "Therefore every one who hears these words of Mine, and acts upon them, may be compared to a wise man, who built his house upon the rock." There's our wise person, our wise man. Here in chapter 25 it's wise virgins, but the point is on the wise ones who hear the words of Christ and respond to them. They believe. Whereas in verse 26 of Matthew 7, "And every one who hears these words of Mine, and does not act upon them, will be like a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand." The foolish person is the one who has heard the truth concerning Christ but did not respond and believe it. So they are unprepared. The conclusion will be the same in Matthew 7--the unprepared one is swept away in judgment. So in Matthew 25, the foolish one, the unprepared one, will be closed out from the wedding feast in judgment. Come back to Matthew chapter 25, verse 5. "Now while the bridegroom was delaying, they all got drowsy and began to sleep." Now again, I don't think we want to be reading extra meanings into all the details. There's not a rebuke given to the wise virgins for getting drowsy here. This is just part of the story. It's not to point out that people get drowsy waiting for Christ, so we need to be alert. We do need to be alert, that's the point; but there's no rebuke. The wise virgins are prepared; they are alert because they've made proper preparation. So even though they get drowsy, they are ready when He comes and go into the wedding feast with Him. There's no rebuke for getting drowsy here, but it does indicate that there is a delay in the coming of the bridegroom. Something that has been stressed in chapter 24 that it seems like the bridegroom takes a long time to come. That

5 point seems to be there. "They all got drowsy and began to sleep. But at midnight there was a shout, 'Behold, the bridegroom! Come out to meet him.'" Midnight, pointing out the time you're not expecting it. As they had come to meet him, some had prepared themselves; some had been indifferent in their preparation. Now, at an unexpected time, at midnight! What a time to come! The bridegroom comes unexpectedly, and that unexpectedness gets the emphasis. "Then all those virgins arose, and trimmed their lamps. And the foolish said to the prudent, 'Give us some of your oil, for our lamps are going out.' But the prudent answered, saying, 'No, there will not be enough for us and you too; go instead to the dealers and buy some for yourselves.'" The unexpected coming catches the unprepared off guard. The wise virgins can't prepare for them. These foolish virgins have to go now and attempt to make preparation, but the point is, it's too late. When the bridegroom comes, it's too late to make preparation. The preparation must be made before He comes! So verse 10, "And while they were going away to make the purchase, the bridegroom came, and those who were ready went in with him to the wedding feast; and the door was shut." Note there is a division made there. "The door was shut." The bridegroom comes, and those who are ready go into the wedding feast. The door is shut. It's those who are ready when he comes that go into the wedding feast; the rest are closed out. Important point that He makes here. The wedding feast--i take it what He is talking about here is the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. The feast that will follow the consummation of the marriage of the Bride to the Groom in glory. The marriage feast, in effect, is the Millennium--the earthly reign of Christ is the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. Turn over to Revelation 19 for some details on this. Very important subject, the Marriage Supper of the Lamb. One commentator from the last century said, "All of life is a preparation for the Marriage Supper." And in many ways that's true. We as the Bride are preparing ourselves for the Groom and the marriage and all that it entails including the feast, whereas Israel is preparing itself for the coming Marriage Feast. The first part of chapter 19 deals with this anticipation of the Second Coming, the rejoicing and shouting of "Hallelujah! In heaven." Then you come to verse 7, "Let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come and His bride has made herself ready. It was given to her to clothe herself in fine linen, bright and clean; for the fine linen is the righteous acts of the saints. And he said to me, 'Write, "Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb."' And he said to me, 'These are true words of God.'" "Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb." You note here, it's not the coming of the Groom to get His Bride! The marriage has come; that call to take His bride to consummate the marriage has taken place. Now what you have, the bride has made herself ready, she's clothed appropriately, and in the oriental wedding what happens is the bride remained veiled and was not unveiled for all to see until after the marriage was consummated. So we who have been raptured to glory, taken to the home He has prepared for us, the marriage will have been consummated, now what we are prepared for is the presentation of the Bride with the Bridegroom at the wedding feast. Paul uses the same picture with a different analogy in Romans chapter 8 where all creation groans in anticipation of the unveiling of the sons of God. That

6 time at the Second Coming when we will be unveiled as God's sons, unveiled as the Bride of Christ for all to see in our beauty and splendor. We'll be clothed in a white garment; the righteous acts of the saints. You see, the judging of the Bride has already occurred. We go to heaven on the basis of faith in the finished work of Christ, but we are going to be rewarded in glory for faithfulness in our service to Him as His children. That faithfulness is portrayed in the beauty of the white, unspotted garment that the Bride is wearing. "Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb,"--now to those who are invited. The ten virgins coming in for the wedding feast. That's the point of the picture that is given here. Turn back to John chapter 3. Remember John the Baptist has raised quite a stir in Israel and some wondered if perhaps John the Baptist was the Messiah. He tells them in verse 28 of John 3, "I am not the Christ", but, "I have been sent before Him." Now note verse 29, "He who has the bride is the bridegroom; but the friend of the bridegroom, who stands and hears him, rejoices greatly because of the bridegroom's voice. And so this joy of mine has been made full." John identifies himself here. "I'm not the bridegroom; I'm not the bride. I'm a friend of the bridegroom." That distinction characterizes the nation Israel. The Church, those who believe in Jesus Christ from Acts chapter 2 down to the Rapture, comprise the Bride of Christ. Old Testament saints and Tribulation saints will comprise the Friends of the Bridegroom. That's how John identifies himself here. I'm a friend of the Bridegroom. Now what we have in Matthew chapter 25 is that when Christ comes there will be a division made among those who are alive on the face of the earth. Some of those will have come to believe in Christ as the Messiah during that 7-year tribulation and have lived through it. When Christ comes, they will be invited to come into the wedding feast. The others will be closed out and destroyed. Now just as an aside, to get a closer picture, you ought also to be aware that it is at this time that the resurrection of Old Testament saints will occur along with the resurrection of those who believe in Christ during the 7-year tribulation and are martyred will occur. So that they too can go into the wedding feast. Just 2 passages of Scripture: Daniel 12. At the Rapture of the Church when the Bride is called to meet the Groom, all believers on the face of the earth will be bodily removed. All believers from Acts 2 to that point of time who have trusted Christ and died will be bodily resurrected, because together we form the Bride of Christ. Then in Daniel chapter 12, verse 1, "Now at that time (the end of Daniel chapter 11 has dealt with the 7-year tribulation, the last half of that tribulation, climaxing with the destruction of the Antichrist.) "Grow at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; Remember in Revelation chapter 12 in the middle of the Tribulation Michael does war with Satan, casting Satan out of heaven, then there is great tribulation on the earth? Christ referred to this in Matthew 24. "At that time your people (the Jews), everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued." That tribulation will be climaxed by the coming of Christ to preserve the elect in the nation that has trusted in Him. "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life..." You see, those who awake, who are resurrected at this time are resurrected to everlasting life. But the

7 others, those who are not resurrected at this time, will be resurrected at a future time, "to disgrace and everlasting contempt." So the resurrection of Israel, believing Israel like David and Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, Moses, those great saints, the resurrection of their bodies will occur at the end of the Tribulation. Because they are friends of the Bridegroom they will go in to the wedding feast. Come over to Revelation chapter 20, verse 4. You have the Second Coming in Revelation chapter 19, then judgments in connection with the setting up of the Kingdom as we get into chapter 20. Verse 4, "And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given to them. And I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony of Jesus and because of the word of God, and those who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and had not received the mark upon their forehead and upon their hand; and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years." The resurrection of Old Testament saints and the resurrection of those who became believers during the 7-year tribulation and are martyred occurs in connection with the Second Coming of Christ so that they might go into the wedding feast and share in that time of Christ's reign. Come back to Matthew 25. We have a rather complete picture of the wedding. The preparation has been made; the commitment to the bride has taken place. The bridegroom comes and gets his bride. Now we have the virgins, the friends of the bridegroom waiting for the return after the consummation of the wedding. Five are prepared five are not. The door is shut, in verse 10. Those prepared go into the wedding feast. Verse 11, "And later the other virgins also came, saying, 'Lord, lord, open up for us.' But he answered and said, 'Truly I say to you, I do not know you.'" You see the division that has occurred? They have no relationship with Him. They are not His friends. They are not invited to the feast. The door is shut. The point being made is you must be ready for His coming. It's too late after He comes to get ready. Their response is interesting--"lord, lord, open up to us." "I never knew you." Look back in Matthew chapter 7 again, where the wise and foolish are contrasted. Just before that contrast in Matthew 7, look at verse 21, "Not every one who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven; but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven." That's the wise man in verse 24, the one who hears and does. "This is the will of God, that you believe in His Son, Jesus Christ." Those who have believed in Christ and have their lives transformed into obedient sons. "Many will say to Me on that day (the day when He comes), 'Lord, Lord," Note the same cry. "Did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons and in Your name perform many miracles?" 'And then I will declare to them, "I never knew you. Same analogy. Some have heard but never prepared. They've never come to recognize their own personal sinfulness and need to believe in Christ as the One who died for them. When Christ comes they are unprepared. They are closed out and judged by Him. It's "Depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness." If you have not submitted to Him in faith, then you are in rebellion against Him, and the penalty for that is destruction. That's the picture. They are not prepared for His Coming. Go back to Matthew 25. In 25:13 Christ gives the point of the parable. "Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day

8 nor the hour." That summarizes what is this parable all about? "Be on the alert. You don't know when Christ is coming. Be ready." In chapter 24, verse 36 of Matthew, "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." Verse 42, "Therefore be on the alert, for you do not know which day your Lord is coming." Verse 44, "For this reason you be ready too; for the Son of Many is coming at an hour when you do not think He will." Verse 50, "The master of that slave will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour which he does not know." Now chapter 25, verse 13, "Be on the alert then, for you do not know the day nor the hour." You see that repeated again and again, stressed: "Be ready; be prepared or you'll be caught off guard and it's too late." That's what Christ has to say about His Second Coming. Now the context of Matthew chapters 24 and 25 is His Second Coming to earth to establish His kingdom. But the point is the same for us who are anticipating His coming in the air in anticipation of the Second Coming. And if Israel who has all the signs of the 7-year Tribulation laid out for them in Scripture--like Matthew 24 and Revelation they are warned, "Be on the alert, you don't know when the Messiah is coming. You can't pinpoint the time." how much more we need to be alert for His coming in the air when there are no indicators, no signs given regarding His coming. The point made in anticipation of Christ's coming, whichever coming you're talking about, whichever phase of His coming--the Rapture or the Coming to earth--is "Be ready! Because He is coming." I want you to note something about these virgins. The five foolish virgins didn't totally deny the fact there was a bridegroom. They didn't totally deny the fact the bridegroom was coming! They just didn't make adequate preparation! They did see He was coming; they did have lamps! They dabbled in it, but they weren't ready. They're much like religious people today. They go to church; they have some religious convictions, but they have not really come to a personal relationship with Christ through faith in His finished work whereby their lives are transformed in the new birth by faith in the finished work of Christ. They're not ready. I was talking with a man on the airplane while returning from our recent trip. We talked about a variety of things. It ended up he was the son of a minister. Father was dead because this man was 77 years old. We talked about his life, what he had done, about the years he had been retired and what he had accomplished in his life. We were in and out of the Scripture on occasion, and I finally asked him--his name was John. "John, are you ready for eternity?" The man had grown up in a religious home. By his indication he was a religious man at least to be faithful and try to follow the pattern of Christ's life and His teaching. He says, "Well, I hope. I'm working on it" You know, it's that kind of dabbling in it that characterized the five foolish Virgins. They weren't ready; they hadn't prepared. The only thing that can prepare you for the coming of Christ is to recognize that Christ died for you personally; it was your sins that He was bearing on that cross. YOU deserve to die, but in love He took your place. He was raised from the dead because all was accomplished that would ever need to be accomplished for you to be cleansed and forgiven, except for you to believe in the finished work of Jesus Christ. That's what brings preparation. Anything else is getting a lamp; is dabbling around, but it is not being prepared. Look over in 2 Corinthians chapter 5. At the close of this chapter, Paul has been talking about the ministry committed to

9 us as believers in Jesus Christ. He said in v. 17, "Therefore if any man is in Christ, he is a new creature;" a new creation, your life has been transformed from inside out. "Old things are passed away; behold, new things have come. Now all these things are from God, who reconciled us to Himself through Christ and gave to us the ministry of reconciliation, namely, that God was in Christ reconciling the world to Him, not counting their trespasses against them, and He has committed to us the word of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were entreating through us; we beg you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. He made Him who knew no sin to be sin on our behalf, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." I like the intensity of Paul's expression here--"we beg you on behalf of Christ." Do you have that kind of compassion and intensity? You know why I believe much of the world does not take seriously the true, real, immanent return of Jesus Christ? They don't see it lived out in the lives of those who proclaim it. Does my life really conform to the reality of the truth that Christ may come at any moment? To those that I share the importance of getting ready to meet Christ see in the way that I live that I really that Christ may be coming at any minute, at any time, and my life is lived in readiness for that? We blunt the message when we share with people how important it is to believe in Christ TODAY, NOW, when we look like we're absorbed in the things of this life. That is a passing involvement that we have. Does the world see us as different than those who don't believe Christ is really coming and may be coming today? How is your life different today because you believe Christ may be coming before the day is over? If I really believe that, that has a dramatic impact on the way I'm going to live. I remember when we took our trip we packed and got ready. We were going to be picked up at a certain time; all the bags were ready, everything was out. We had done all the preparation. Now we ran around and did other things while we were waiting. We did this and that thing, but our bags were packed! When the car pulled in the driveway, we were out the door! That's the way we're to be living as believers. Our bags are packed! Now we're doing other things; we're around presenting Jesus Christ, that He is coming! We want you to go on this trip with us! We want you to come along! Get packed! 'When is He coming?' I'm not sure of the exact time; it may be today, but you've got to get packed because when He comes you've got to be ready or you don't go. But do they see me living like that? Too often we have the idea, and I notice it as I get older; 'Well, I don't know if Christ will come in my lifetime but I really think He'll come in my children's lifetime.' Well, that may be; but you know, He just may come in my lifetime because He says He's going to come unexpectedly! Be prepared! Be ready! Even the five wise virgins were caught at an unexpected moment, but the point is, they were prepared! Are you packed? Are you ready! Does your lifestyle indicate that? Let me ask you. If you knew for sure that Christ was coming before this day was over, what would you do differently with your life? What changes would you want to make in your life right now? Then you know you ought to do it right now, because that's the way you're to live. You ought to be able to sit and say, If Jesus Christ is coming in ten minutes; I am ready, packed and anxious to go. If it'll be an hour, that's all right because I'm ready, packed and anxious to be going. We need to analyze our lives in light of that. You see why the Second Coming of Christ--both the Rapture and His Second Coming to earth later--affects the way I live my life every moment of the day?

10 Note how Paul goes on in 2 Corinthians into chapter 6, we have this message to proclaim of reconciliation to God and then he says, "Working together with Him, we also urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain--for He says, 'At the acceptable time I listened to you, and on the day of salvation I helped you'; behold, now is the 'acceptable time,' behold, now is the day of salvation." That's an ominous statement. Any wonder the Apostle Paul had a passion about it? Have you ever gotten into a situation where you begged people to receive Christ? Paul says "We beg you in Christ's Name, be reconciled to God." "We urge you not to receive the grace of God in vain" because "Today is the day of God's gracious offer to you to receive His salvation." There may not be a tomorrow for you to receive God's salvation, but He offers it to you now. You're hearing the invitation now. That's when you must believe the message. It's mind-boggling when you think about it. There will come a time when the last person will hear and believe that message, and the Bridegroom will come. I wonder where it will be, but there will come a time when there will be that last time. There will come a time when I present the gospel for the last time! There's got to be an urgency to people to believe it, to accept it. There will be people who will hear that message and say "I'm going to think about it" and the Bridegroom will come! And they're unprepared! It's not those who think about being prepared that are prepared! It's those who believe and prepare! That's why there needs to be an urgency! Let me share with you the truth of Jesus Christ that He loves you and died for you. He paid the penalty for your sin, and you must believe in Him. "Let me think about it." Let me encourage you to do it now and not delay, because if the Bridegroom comes, those who think about it are not prepared. And they'll not be ready. That's the message we have to proclaim. It's a message of grace; it's a message of love, but let me tell you, when the Bridegroom comes, the door is closed. That's it. Those who are thinking about it are closed out. They're not ready. That's why there's an urgency. That's why Paul says, "Today is the day of salvation." Today is the day of God's grace in your life as you hear the gracious invitation. Why have you not believed in Him? I had opportunity to speak with a delightful couple, a Jewish couple, as they shared with us. We shared with them the message of Christ. As we talked about it, the wife in this said 'I don't believe in life after death. It's just all going to be gone, and that'll be it.' I shared with her, 'You know, it amazes me that you're willing to gamble with such an important issue.' She said, 'I don't believe in gambling.' 'Well, what you're doing is gambling because if what I have shared with you from the Word of God is true, then it's going to cost you everything. If what you've shared with me about eternity is true, I haven't lost anything. My life has been full and rich and enjoyable and meaningful. So if this is all there is, I'm excited that I've been able to live it the way it is. So we're both going out into nothingness. But let me tell you, if what God says about eternity is true, you're going out to an eternal hell." Who would take such a chance? When here's a free gift? Believe in Jesus Christ, be cleansed and forgiven and prepared to meet Him! People either say, 'No, I don't believe it' or, 'Give me time and I'll think about it.' It's done on God's terms, and let me tell you, it's done in God's time. If you hear the message, you ought to praise God for His grace, and submit and believe it because it may be the only time or the last time you'll have opportunity. For those of us who are believers, I trust God will give us that sense of anticipation that will affect our lives. That all the

11 things that distract and draw us away be swept clear. He doesn't call us to live on a mountain with a white robe with our suitcase. He told us to be involved here and now presenting the message of reconciliation, but be doing it with our bags packed, our lives in order expecting and anticipating and hoping it will be today that He comes; but whenever He comes, I'm ready because I've trusted Him as the One who loved me and died for me.